The FAA said on Monday it wants to substantially raise the qualification requirements for first officers who fly for U.S. passenger and cargo airlines.The proposed rule, which the FAA said complies with a law passed in 2010, would require first officers flying in Part 121 operations to hold an ATP certificate, which requires 1,500 hours of flight time. Currently, first officers are required to have only a commercial pilot certificate, which requires 250 hours. Also, first officers would need to log at least 1,000 flight hours in air carrier operations before they could serve as pilot in command in those operations. And if first officers are flying an airplane that requires a type rating or a multiengine rating, they must log 50 hours of multiengine flight experience and complete a new FAA-approved ATP Certification Training Program for those ratings, which would include classroom and simulator training.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://www.avweb.com/news/faa-proposes-change-in-first-officer-rules